Needle protection device with gauge specific color coding and method for manufacturing thereof

ABSTRACT

To enable a user to readily determine the gauge of the needle of a needle assembly that has a base and a needle protective housing pivotably attached thereto, the needle assembly is injection molded from a color coded molding material which color was preassigned to correspond to the gauge of the needle. As a result, both the base and the protective housing of the needle assembly have the same specific color, and reflect or provide an indication of the given gauge of the needle. The needle sheath that covers the needle prior to use may be made of a plastics material that may be clear, or have the same or a different color than that of the needle assembly. The gauge of the needle of a fixed needle syringe could also be ascertained by its color coded needle protective housing. Color coded markings that correspond to the gauge of the needle may also be printed onto the syringe barrel of the fixed needle syringe.

This application is a continuation-in-part of application Ser. No.10/751,982 filed on Jan. 7, 2004.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to needle assemblies and specificallyneedle assemblies that have a protective housing connected to a base,with a color scheme for the needle assembly that relates to the gauge ofthe needle of the needle assembly.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

In a medical environment, to draw blood from or inject fluid to apatient, in the case of a syringe being used, conventionally a needle ismated to the syringe by way of a hub to which the needle is attached orintegrated. Depending on the procedure, the gauge of the needle tends tovary. It is well established that the gauge of the needle may bedetermined by the color of the hub. Yet the needle hub, or at least aportion thereof, is often hidden by the needle sheath that covers theneedle when the needle is mated to the luer of the syringe.

With current technological and safety advances, a needle protectivehousing may be attached to the needle hub, with the needle hub, or base,and the needle protective housing being joined and either acting as anadapter as taught by U.S. Pat. No. 4,982,842, or as a single unit withthe needle integrated to the base and the needle protective housingconnected to the base as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,993,426 and U.S.Pat. RE37,110. There are also instances where a needle protectivehousing may be connected to a syringe, as disclosed by U.S. Pat. Nos.5,232,455, 6,582,397, and application Ser. Nos. 10/657,171 and29/189,589, both filed on Sep. 9, 2003. The respective disclosures ofthe '842, '426, '110, '455, and '397 patents and the '171 and '589applications are incorporated by reference herein.

In the devices disclosed by the aforenoted patents as well as in theprior art, there has not been any established scheme that allows a userto readily determine the gauge of the needle she is using. And giventhat the use of a needle with a particular gauge may well be of importin an emergency situation, there is a need to provide a scheme whereby auser can readily ascertain the gauge of the needle she would like to usewithout having to directly look at the needle, which oftentimes isdifficult since the needle is usually covered by a sheath prior to use.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

To enable a user to readily determine the needle gauge of a needleassembly that has a housing attached to a base or a needle hub to whichthe needle is attached, during the manufacturing process, colorpigmentation that is specific to the gauge of the needle is added to themold material, which most likely would be a plastics material such aspolypropylene. With the mold material having the color that correspondsto the gauge of the needle in accordance with the ISO (InternationalStandard Organization) standard, a user could readily pick out fromamong a plurality of needle assemblies the particular gauge of needleshe wants to use. For example, a needle assembly with both the base andthe housing being black would signify to the user that it is a 22 gauge(22G) needle, while a blue needle assembly would indicate to the user a23G needle is in that blue needle assembly.

To provide a redundant or back up check for the user to determine thegauge of the needle for the needle assembly, the needle sheath thatcovers the needle prior to use may be made of clear plastic, so that theuser can ascertain the gauge the needle visually, and confirm it withthe color scheme of the needle assembly, or vis versa. Alternatively,the needle sheath may be manufactured to have the same color as theneedle protection housing.

The needle device or needle assembly of the instant invention has aneedle of a particular gauge and a base having attached thereto a needleprotection housing that is pivotable relative to the base. Both the baseand the needle protection housing are formed from a molding materialthat has added thereto a specific color pigmentation preassigned,pursuant to ISO standard, to a particular gauge of needle. With theneedle of the particular gauge attached or integrated to the base orneedle hub of the needle assembly, and given that both the base and theneedle protection housing are of the same specific color, a user canreadily ascertain the gauge of the needle by merely looking at the colorof the needle assembly, i.e. either the base or the housing, or both.The needle protective housing is used to cover the needle once it isused, by being pivoted to a position in alignment substantially alongthe longitudinal axis of the needle assembly.

The instant invention also relates to the method of manufacturing theneedle device that includes the steps of selecting a needle having aparticular gauge, adding a specific color to a molding material, forminga needle assembly having a base and a needle protection housingpivotable relative to the base from the molding material so that thebase and the housing have the same specific color, attaching the needleto the base, with the needle being coverable by the housing when thehousing is pivoted to a position in alignment along the longitudinalaxis of the base, and corresponding the specific color to the particulargauge of the needle so the user can ascertain the gauge of the needle bylooking at the color of the needle assembly.

The instant invention also relates to the manufacture of a plurality ofneedle devices in which the respective colors are assigned to needles ofdifferent gauges. Moreover, different colored molding materials areprovided and a color molding material with the color assigned to a givenneedle gauge is used for forming a plurality of needle assemblies eachhaving a base and a needle protection housing pivotable relative to thebase being the same specific color. Needles of the gauge that correspondto the specific color are attached to the base of the needle assemblies.When the job batch involving all of the needles of the same gauge havebeen attached to needle assemblies that have the color specific to theneedle gauge, another job batch may begin whereby needles of a differentgauge are attached to needle assemblies whose bases and needleprotective housings have the same color that has been assigned to theneedles with the different gauge. With the needle assemblies each beingcolor coded to correspond to a particular needle gauge, a user canreadily determine the gauge of the needle that she wants to use bymerely looking at the color of the needle assembly.

The instant invention further is related to syringes to which a needleprotective housing is connected, either directly or by way of a collarto the neck of the syringe. For the inventive syringes, a needle isfixedly fitted to the syringe, and it is usually covered by a needlesheath prior to its use. As is the case with non-syringe needleprotection devices, different syringes have different needle sizes. Forthe syringe invention, the needle protective housing of the syringe ismanufactured to have a color that corresponds to the gauge of the needlethat is fitted to the syringe. Alternative embodiments of the syringeinvention entail the manufacturer of the needle sheath to have the samecolor as the needle housing, so that prior to use, a syringe with afixed needle would have both its housing and the needle sheath thatcovers the needle prior to use being color coded to represent the gaugeof the needle of the syringe. Yet a further variation of the syringe ofthe instant invention entails the manufacturer of the syringe to alsohave the same color as the protective housing so that everything on thesyringe may have the same color that corresponds to the gauge of theneedle. It may well be that the needle sheath is made of clear plasticmaterial so that the user can view the needle prior to its use.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

The present invention will become apparent and the invention itself willbe best understood by reference to the following description of thepresent invention taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawingswherein:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a needle assembly of the instantinvention in which the base has attached thereto a needle protectivehousing;

FIG. 2 is a needle assembly of the instant invention that has attachedto its base or needle hub a needle of a gauge that corresponds to thecolor scheme of the needle assembly;

FIG. 3 is a flow chart illustrating an exemplar method of manufacturingthe instant invention;

FIG. 4 is a side view of a fixed needle syringe modified to receive thecollar of a needle protective housing;

FIG. 5 is a section view of the needle housing shown in FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is a front view of the needle housing of FIG. 4;

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of the syringe of FIG. 4 with the needlesheath removed showing an exposed needle;

FIG. 8 is a perspective view of the syringe of FIG. 7 with the exposedneedle covered by the needle housing;

FIG. 9 is cross-sectional view of syringe having attached thereto aneedle protective housing and markings with a color that corresponds tothe gauge of the needle; and

FIG. 10 illustrates a fixed needle syringe that has a marking in theform of a ring, or lines, at the barrel of the syringe and a decal thatmay be added to, or replaces the ring, at the syringe barrel.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The present invention safety needle device comprises a needle assembly 2that has a base 4 and a protective housing 6. Base 4 is connected toprotective housing 6 by a living hinge 8. Base 4 has a needle hub 10 towhich a needle 12 is attached at an opening 14. Once attached, needle 12is sealed. Needle 12 could also be integrated to needle hub 10. Base 4further has a luer end 16 which mates with a luer end of a syringe, asis well known in the art. Protective needle housing 6, for theembodiment shown, comprises a housing that has a longitudinal slot 18through which needle 12 passes, when housing 6 is pivoted in thedirection as shown by directional arrow 20 toward the longitudinal axis22 of base 4 for enveloping or covering needle 12. A needle retentionmechanism such as a hook 24 is provided in needle protective housing 6for grasping needle 12, once housing 6 is pivoted to be in substantialalignment along the longitudinal axis 12. Once grasped by hook 24,needle 12 and housing 6 are retained relative to each other so thatneedle 12 is prevented from being further exposed. Note that instead ofa hook, other needle retention mechanism such as the SIDE SNAP lockingmechanism as disclosed in the afore-mentioned incorporated by referenceRE 37,110 may also be used.

As best shown in FIG. 1, needle assembly 2 is a single unit that maywell be injection molded from a medical plastics material such as forexample polypropylene. In some instances, instead of being a singleunitary unit, housing 6 and base 4 may be molded as separate units withmeans provided at housing 6, such as for example a ring or a collar,that allows housing 6 to be attached to base 4. In any event, housing 6and base 4 for the embodiment shown in the drawings are parts of thesame needle assembly and are injection molded from a given conventionalmedical plastics molding material such as for example polypropylene.

Because there are a number of different medical procedures, needle 12may be manufactured with different dimensions, or different gauges, forexample from 18 gauge to 30 gauge in conventional practice. Prior to theinstant invention, a needle of a particular gauge is attached to aneedle hub of a specific color. To use, the needle is mated to a luerend of a syringe. But the needle, whatever its gauge, is covered by aneedle sheath such as component 26 shown in FIG. 2. Needle sheath 26most likely is mated to needle hub 10 by frictional contact with thefins 10 a that extend along the length of needle hub 10. Needle sheath26 may well be made from an opaque plastics material so that once needlesheath 26 is fitted to needle hub 10 to cover needle 12, needle hub 10is not readily viewable. Indeed, insofar as the major portion of needlehub 10 is covered by the base of needle sheath 26, there is but a smallportion of needle hub 10 that may be viewed by the user for determiningthe color of the needle hub. Accordingly, the gauge of needle 12 is notreadily ascertained.

The International Standard Organization (ISO) has assigned to thedifferent gauged needles specific corresponding colors. Relying on theISO standard, the inventors of the instant invention envision the colorcoding of the different gauged needles by making the complete needleassembly to which a needle is attached the specific color that isassigned to the particular gauge of the needle. In other words, assumingthat a 22 gauge needle has been assigned the color “black”, that 22gauge needle would be fitted or attached to a completely black needleassembly such as for example needle assembly 2 as shown in FIG. 1. Theneedle assembly may be injection molded from a molding material that hasadded thereto a black color pigmentation. Thus, the 22 gauge needleassembly is black at both its base 4 and its protective housing 6, aswell as hinge 8. Similarly, for a 23 gauge needle, the needle assembly 2to which the 23 gauge needle is attached would be blue, insofar as it isassumed that a 23 gauge needle has been assigned the color “blue”. For a25 gauge needle, the needle assembly for that needle would be orange,pursuant to the “orange” color that has been assigned to a 25 gaugeneedle, etc.

With both the base 4 and the needle protective housing 6 being of thesame specific color that corresponds to the gauge of the needle, a usercan therefore readily determine from a glance of the needle assembly thegauge of its needle, even were the needle covered by a needle sheath 26that is opaque. To provide a redundant means for a user to determine thegauge of the needle, needle sheath 26 may be made of a clear plasticmaterial.

The method by which the gauge of a needle is color coded per the instantinvention is discussed herein with the flow chart in FIG. 3. Assume thata plurality of needles of different gauges are to be manufactured.Further assume that there are a number of batches of needles to bemanufactured, with the needles of each batch being of a particulargauge.

Starting at step 30, the process of the instant invention begins bydetermining the gauge, or gauges, of the needles to be manufactured. Atstep 32, different colors are assigned to the different gauged needles.At step 34, molding materials of different colors are obtained. Assumethat for the manufacturing process, a batch of needles each having thesame particular gauge are to be manufactured. That being the case, atstep 36, the gauge of the batch of needles that are to be manufacturedis determined. Thereafter, the molding material that has the color thatcorresponds to the determined gauge of the needle is selected, per step38. With the appropriately colored molding material now selected, theprocess proceeds with the injection molding of the needle assembly, forthe embodiment comprising both the base and the housing as a singleunit, from the chosen colored molding material, per step 48. Thisinjection molding process may be performed by a number of conventionalinjection molding machines such as for example the injection moldingmachines manufactured by the Nissei Company of Japan. With the moldedneedle assemblies on hand, the needles of the same particular gauge eachare attached to the base, or the needle hub of the base, of one of thecolor coded needle assemblies, as shown in FIG. 2, per step 42. At theend of the manufacturing process after step 42, a needle assembly thathas a needle of a particular gauge with a base and a housing both havingthe same specific color that corresponds to the gauge of the needle,such as that shown in FIG. 2, is produced. Thereafter, a determinationis made per step 44 to see whether all of the needles of the sameparticular gauge have been assembled to corresponding needle assembliesfor that job batch. And if it is determined that the job batch isfinished, the process proceeds to step 46 where it is further determinedwhether there are other needles of other particular gauges that need tobe manufactured. If there are, then the process once again proceeds asoutlined above starting at step 36. On the other hand, if there are noother color coded needle assemblies to be produced, then themanufacturing process is stopped.

It should be appreciated that even though the needle sheath as disclosedabove is made of either an opaque material or a clear plastics material,it may well be that the needle sheath may also be made of a materialthat may have the same color as, or a different color than, that of thebase and protective housing of the needle assembly. Furthermore, eventhough the needle assembly as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 is formed as aunitary unit, it may well be that the base and the protective needlehousing may be formed as separate units from different molds and beconnected later during the manufacturing process. If the needle sheathwere also molded from the same colored molding material as the base andthe needle protection housing, the needle sheath that covers the needleprior to its use may therefore also be color specific to the particulargauge of the needle.

With reference to FIGS. 4-6, a fixed needle syringe 48 is shown toinclude a syringe barrel body 50 that includes a distal portion 52. Aneedle hub 54 at the distal portion 52 of the syringe has fixedlyextending therefrom a needle 56. A finger flange 58 is provided at theproximal portion of the syringe, with a plunger 60 movably mated to thesyringe barrel 50, as is well known in the art.

At the distal portion 52 of the syringe 58 there is formed a groove 62.Prior to use, needle 56 is covered by a needle sheath 64 that isfrictionally held to hub 54 of syringe 48.

A needle protection housing 66 that has a base or collar 68 connectedthereto by a flexible hinge 70 is fitted about syringe 48 at groove 62.Collar 68, as best shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, has a number of flanges 72formed at its inner circumferential surface. A number of protrusions arealso formed at the inner surface of collar 68. Two extensions or fingers76 are formed at the opposite sides of the outer surface of collar 68.These fingers 76 coact with corresponding catches 78 formed at the baseof housing 66, when housing 66 is pivoted in the direction as indicatedby directional arrow 80, to align along the longitudinal axis 82 ofcollar 68 and syringe 48, as shown in FIG. 4.

When collar 68 is fitted to syringe 48, flanges 72 are matingly fittedto groove 62. The dimension of the inside diameter and more particularlythe circumference formed by flanges 72 is such that it is slightlylarger than the diameter of groove 62, so that collar 68 is rotatableabout groove 24 after being press fitted thereto. Protrusions or bumps74 are designed to be in contact with the syringe barrel 50 so as toprovide additional friction between collar 68 and syringe 48, so thatcollar 68 is rotatable relative to syringe barrel 48 only if apredetermined torque is applied against collar 68, or housing 66, forrotating collar 68 relative to syringe 48.

After needle sheath 64 is removed from syringe 48, to cover the nowexposed needle 56, housing 66 is pivoted in the direction of arrow 80 sothat it becomes substantially aligned along the longitudinal axis 82 forcovering needle 56, when needle 56 passes through slot 84 of housing 66.A hook 86 in housing 66 grasps needle 56 at this time so to preventneedle 56 from being further exposed. At the same time, housing 66 isretained to collar 68 by the interaction between catches 78 and fingers76.

To ensure that a user can readily ascertain the gauge of needle 56 ofthe fixed needle syringe, housing 66, as well as collar 68 are moldedfrom a plastics material such as that discussed earlier so that thecolor of the housing 66 and collar 68 would have the same color as thatgiven in the common ISO standard that corresponds to the gauge of needle56, as noted earlier. For example, a 22 gauge needle would have ahousing that is black, a 23 gauge needle would have a housing that isblue, and a 25 gauge needle would be orange, etc.

For the FIG. 4 embodiment, instead of being clear, needle sheath 64 mayalso be molded or formed from a plastics material that has a color thatcorresponds to the gauge of the needle. Such needle sheath thereforeenables a user to readily ascertain the gauge of the needle, even beforethe user removes the needle sheath from the syringe. Alternatively, aswas noted before, needle sheath may be made from a clear plasticsmaterial or a translucent material. FIGS. 7 and 8 provide perspectiveviews of the fixed needle syringe of the instant invention, with FIG. 7showing the exposed needle 54 and FIG. 8 illustrating needle 54 beingcovered by housing 66.

Although the embodiment illustrated in FIGS. 4-8 shows a fixed needlesyringe that has attached thereto a housing via a rotatable collar, afixed needle syringe could have a housing integrally or directly formedwith the syringe, so that the housing is not rotatable relative to thesyringe. For that embodiment, both the syringe barrel and the housingwould be manufactured from a plastics material that has added theretothe color pigmentation that corresponds to the gauge of the needle to befixed to the syringe. In other words, aside from possibly plunger 60,the body of the syringe barrel, as well as the needle housing, would becolor coded to correspond to the gauge of the needle to which theparticular syringe is fitted. It should be appreciated however thatplunger 60 may also be color coded to the needle gauge. For thisembodiment, needle sheath 64 may be made of the same color coded moldingmaterial so that it too is color coded to correspond to the gauge of theneedle of the syringe.

The manufacturing of a fixed needle syringe of the instant inventionbegins with a determination of the gauge of the needle that is to befitted to the syringe, either individually or for the batch of the sameneedle gauge syringes that are to be manufactured. The specific colorthat corresponds to the gauge of the needle is then determined accordingto a given standard, such as the ISO Standard. Appropriate colorpigmentation is next added to the material to be used for forming themold. In the case of the syringe as shown in FIGS. 4-8, the housing isformed with a base, or a collar, that is to be fitted to the syringe. Inthis case, the syringe barrel itself may be formed from a differentplastics material, or be formed from the same color coded material so asto have the same color as the housing and the base. Once the housing isformed, it is fitted to the syringe barrel via the collar, so that it isrotatable relative to the syringe barrel. With the housing thus colorcoded, a user can readily ascertain the gauge of the needle, even whenthe needle sheath that covers the needle prior to use is made of a clearor translucent material. To further enhance the determination of thegauge of the needle of the syringe, the needle sheath that covers thesyringe prior to use may also be manufactured to have the same color asthe housing.

For the case where the needle housing is integrally formed with thesyringe from a mold, both the housing and syringe would naturally havethe same color that corresponds to the gauge of the needle. Of course,the needle sheath that covers the needle prior to use may likewise havethe same color as the housing.

FIG. 9 is an illustration of an alternative embodiment of the instantinvention in which markings 86 are provided on syringe barrel 50 in acolor that corresponds to the gauge of the needle 56. For thisembodiment, housing 66 may be directly attached to the syringe 48 by wayof living hinge 70, or as was the case for the FIG. 4 embodiment,attached by way of a collar 68 shown in dotted line. In the case werehousing 66 is an integral part of syringe 48, as for example by beingmanufactured from the same mold during the same operation, housing 66may have the same color as syringe barrel 50, or may in fact be clear.Yet by using a color coded marking such as the scales 86 printeddirectly on syringe barrel 50, a user can readily ascertain the gauge ofthe needle 56 by the color of the markings. Markings 86 in fact providemultiple functions in that, in addition to informing the user at aglance the gauge of the needle, they, being in the form of scales thatare printed onto the body of the syringe, also enable a user toascertain the volume of fluid in the syringe.

For the case where housing 66 is coupled to syringe 48 by way of acollar 68, housing 66 as well as collar 68 are color coded to reflectthe gauge of needle 56 that is fixed to syringe 48. Needle sheath 64could either be clear, translucent, or color coded to correspond to thegauge of the needle 56. Thus, for the FIG. 9 embodiment, the syringe,prior to use, may have a conventional syringe barrel, but with markingsand its needle protective housing being color coded to indicate thegauge of the needle that is covered by the needle sheath. The needlesheath may also be color coded. Alternatively, the syringe barrel aswell as the needle protective housing may be non-color coded, while themarkings are color coded to indicate the gauge of the needle. In thisalternative embodiment, the needle sheath may or may not be color-coded.Markings 86 may be added to syringe barrel 50 by a conventional printingprocess.

FIG. 10 shows a fixed needle syringe that, instead of markings, has acolor coded ring or band, or lines 88 printed on the syringe barrel 50.The band or lines may be in addition to the markings or scales that areprinted onto syringe barrel 50, and may be located on the syringe barrelin such a way so as not to interfere with the scale markings thatindicate the amount of fluid in syringe 48. The number of the gauge thatcorresponds to the thickness of needle 56 may be printed onto the band,as indicated by XX. The color coded band 88 may be printed on barrel 50,using a process that is used to conventionally print the markings orscales onto syringe barrel 50.

In place of, or in addition to, a color coded band or ring(s), a decal90 may be adhesively attached to, or printed on, syringe barrel 50 at alocation that does not interfere with the graduating scale markings thatare ordinarily printed onto a syringe barrel. Decal 90 is color coded toindicate the gauge of needle 56. In addition, the number of the gauge ofthe needle may be printed onto decal 90, as indicated by “XX”. For theFIG. 10 fixed needle syringe, only a color coded decal or lines orband(s) may be used to indicate the gauge of the needle. Alternatively,housing 66 attached to syringe 48 may also be color coded. Likewise,sheath 64 may also be color coded to reflect the gauge of needle 56.

1-15. (canceled)
 16. A syringe, comprising a needle protection housingpivotable relative to said syringe, a needle having a particular gaugefitted to said syringe, said needle being covered by a sheath prior touse, said needle adapted to be covered by said housing when said housingis pivoted to a position in alignment along the longitudinal axis ofsaid needle, said housing formed from a plastics material having aspecific color preassigned to correspond to said particular gauge ofsaid needle according to a standard so that the gauge of the needle ofsaid syringe is ascertainable prior to use by the color of said housing.17. Syringe of claim 16, wherein said housing is connected to a basethat is rotatably mounted about said syringe.
 18. Syringe of claim 16,wherein said housing is integrally connected to said syringe. 19.Syringe of claim 17, wherein said syringe has the same color as saidhousing, the gauge of said needle being ascertainable by the color ofsaid housing and/or said syringe.
 20. Syringe of claim 16, wherein saidsheath has the same color as said housing, the gauge of said needlebeing ascertainable by the color of said sheath and/or said housing.21-26. (canceled)
 27. A syringe having a needle of a given gauge fixedthereto, comprising at least one a marking of a color determined tocorrespond to the given gauge of the needle in accordance with apredetermined standard provided on at least a portion of the syringe, ahousing pivotable relative to the syringe for covering the needle afteruse attached to said syringe, the gauge of the needle being determinableby looking at the color of the marking on the syringe.
 28. Syringe ofclaim 27, wherein said housing has the same color as said marking. 29.Syringe of claim 27, further comprising a sheath for covering saidneedle prior to said needle being used, said sheath having the samecolor as said marking.
 30. Syringe of claim 27, wherein said markingcomprises volume amount indications of said syringe printed on thebarrel of said syringe.
 31. Syringe of claim 27, wherein said markingcomprises a decal attached to said syringe that has the color determinedto correspond to the gauge of said syringe.
 32. Syringe of claim 27,wherein said housing is connected to a base that is rotatably mountedabout said syringe.
 33. Syringe of claim 27, wherein said housing isintegrally connected to said syringe.
 34. Syringe of claim 27, whereinsaid marking comprises at least one color coded band on said syringe,the color of said band corresponding to the given gauge of the needle.35. Syringe of claim 34, wherein said band has printed thereon the gaugenumber of the needle.
 36. Syringe of claim 31, wherein said decal hasprinted thereon the gauge number of the needle.
 37. A syringecomprising: a syringe barrel; a needle of a given gauge extending fromsaid syringe barrel; a needle protection housing pivotable relative tosaid syringe barrel to cover said needle when said housing is pivoted toa position in alignment along the longitudinal axis of said needle;wherein at least one of said syringe barrel or said housing is coded ina color that identifies the given gauge of said needle in accordance toa standard.
 38. Syringe of claim 37, wherein said housing is connectedto a base rotatably mounted about said syringe barrel.
 39. Syringe ofclaim 37, wherein either or both of said syringe barrel and said housingare made from a molding material having the color that corresponds tothe given gauge of said needle according to the standard.
 40. Syringe ofclaim 37, further comprising at least one marking on said syringe barrelcolor coded to identify the given gauge of said needle.
 41. Syringe ofclaim 40, wherein said syringe barrel is color coded to identify thegiven gauge of said needle.
 42. Syringe of claim 37, further comprisinga sheath for covering said needle prior to use of said needle, saidsheath color coded to identify the given gauge of said needle. 43.Syringe of claim 37, wherein said syringe barrel is color coded by atleast one marking that has the color that corresponds to the gauge ofsaid needle according to the standard.
 44. Syringe of claim 43, whereinsaid marking comprises at least one of a decal, scales and a bandprinted on said syringe barrel.